Characterizing waterborne lead exposure in private drinking water systems in Virginia

Lead poisoning is considered an entirely preventable disease as preventative measures can limit and control exposure. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ingestion of waterborne lead may contribute up to 20 percent of an adult individual’s total lead exposure. In the United States, approximately 10 to 15 percent of households are dependent on a private drinking water system (well, spring or cistern). These systems are, by definition, excluded from existing EPA regulations, and therefore homeowners are directly responsible for maintaining and monitoring water quality. Previous studies indicate that between 20 to 50 percent of private systems exceed at least one EPA’s health-based drinking water standards, generally for coliform bacteria; these survey efforts, however, very rarely investigate contamination associated with premise plumbing (e.g. corrosion and release of heavy metals). Since 2000, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has worked to eliminate elevated blood lead levels in children. Without characterizing waterborne lead exposure in private drinking water systems, achieving this goal will be challenging.

This research represents a collaboration with Virginia Cooperative Extension, which provides rural homeowners with low-cost water quality testing. The objective of this study was to quantify lead concentrations in samples collected from the point of use, and then identify potential system characteristics and household demographics that increase the risk of elevated lead concentrations. During 2012 and 2013, over 2,100 homeowners submitted samples for analysis; almost 20 percent of samples contained lead at levels above the current EPA recommended action level (≥15µg/L), with concentrations as high as 24,740µg/L. Results suggest that corrosion is a more significant problem that previously believed and highlight that certain environmental conditions and system construction features (e.g. type of well) are associated with lead concentrations and therefore can be communicated to homeowners to increase participation in water quality testing.